The lights are shining brightly, some of it getting in Junior Analiesa Hollowood’s face. The once clear voices continuously get more muffled, until there is a slight ringing in her ears. Her hands are slightly shaking as she’s trying not to let her nervousness show. Finally, the announcer goes over the speaker and lets the audience know the name of the group. That’s when the adrenaline starts pumping and soon it’s “three, two, one… showtime.” While performing on stage might seem like a dream, it is a reality for FHC’s very own Chorale, who have the honor of being selected to perform at MMEA at the end of January.

Choir Director Elisabeth Baird went into depth about what MMEA is.

“MMEA stands for the Missouri Music Educators Association… it’s the big organization that all of the music teachers in the state are a part of, kind of our professional organization,” Baird said. “Once a year, all of the music teachers go to [an] annual conference, and they choose 40 total ensembles to perform [at] it.”

Being invited to MMEA is an enormous honor and achievement. It not only reflects the hard work and dedication that those within the music department give, but also recognizes the talent within the program. FHC has had two other groups perform at MMEA in the past, those being the jazz ensemble and the wind ensemble. However, the already impressiveness of the nomination has increased tenfold, since of the 40 ensembles, only 20 of them are vocal groups and are chosen from elementary schools all the way to the collegiate level. But with such a high honor, chorale has an immense pressure to thoroughly prepare themselves in such a short amount of time, since the exhibition is set to be on Jan. 27.

“We’re required to do between 23 and 25 minutes worth of music; you can’t go over, you can’t go under,” Baird said. “We have six pieces in ours and we are at 23 and a half minutes.”

With the time they have been allotted, chorale will perform six pieces, but it isn’t as simple as just practicing a song multiple times and going on stage to do the same thing. Of the six pieces, four are in English, one is in Latin, and the last is heavily based on traditional Greek phrases.  With the complexity of their pieces, Chorale has been working with multiple professionals in the music industry. This includes three composers, two clinicians, and a language specialist to ensure they are at their peak. Working with such elite members of the music community has accumulated lots of stress among the vocalists. Hollowood, who is vice president of choir gave some insight on the emotions of the members.

“I don’t know how stressed other people are, so I don’t want to speak for them, but I would say yes, because I also know more of the details than most chorale members know. And because of that, there’s more I need to do and kind of take that extra step to prepare us,” Hollowood said. “If someone is absent, I’ll take notes for them. And on top of that, I’m also doing officer jobs. I just finished the invites today for our preview concert, so I’m doing a lot of other business stuff with Baird.”

With the impending performance, there is more work that goes into preparing for it other than practicing in class or outside of school. Other formalities are involved, and it is not just the officers in the program that have taken on extra roles either. Junior Aubrey Hunter has found herself helping out others as well.

“I do a lot of extra practice on my own so that when we do sections in class, I can help read for people that need help with it,” Hunter said.

With the increased stress and workload from preparations, some students are beginning to struggle with other classes.

“Obviously, preparing for this is super stressful, but it’s still a different kind of stress, so they come in my room and they cry about all of their other classes, because they’re also in other elite classes,” Baird said. “You have the academic stress, you have the social stress, there are a bunch of jobs, they’re doing 15 outside shows with other groups and other ensembles and then they get to come in here and just let it go.”

There is more work that goes into preparing for MMEA than what some expect, and for those who are a part of chorale, it is amplified because they still have responsibilities outside of the ones held within the classroom. However, even under immense pressure, the students set to perform at MMEA handle what’s thrown at them with grace.

“[Chorale is] able to really connect with their emotions so much more as [they’re] connecting with the music,” Baird said. “I get to know a lot more about them, and about what all of the world is affecting them in such a deeper, real way for sure.”